An Extended Stay
by whatsinamasterball
Summary: Lucy awakens to find that her apartment is riddled with bugs. She finds herself at Natsu and Happy's little cottage and they all agree that Lucy will be staying with the dragon slayer while her apartment undergoes extermination. But will being in such close quarters resurface old feelings that Lucy had buried long ago? Rated M for language and for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Why hello there! This is just something I had to write because my angsty NaLu feels were creeping up on me! I got the idea from this story from personal experience. My apartment was recently infested with carpenter ants and it was a drag. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to check this out! It's my first fanfic so please let me know what you thought of it!

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**_

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It was the middle of the night and everything was peaceful in the town of Magnolia. That was, until a certain dragon slayer's door was being pounded on so hard that it was dangerously close to falling off its hinges.

Natsu bolted up and clumsily ran to the door, flinging it wide open, barely aware of his blue Exceed friend close behind him who was also groggily rubbing at his eyes.

Immediately, a shriek filled the small house and a figure that Natsu couldn't quite make out in the dark sped past him. He heard something land in his bed with an oomph and as his senses came back to him, he chuckled and closed the door. Lucy, he thought in amusement. There was fear in the air around her, but Natsu knew it wasn't life-threatening so he calmly walked back to his room and leaned up against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest, and stared at the blonde who was shaking, hunched over on his bed.

"Luce. What are you doing here?" He yawned, a twinkle in his eye.

She didn't answer right away. Her body was shaking and her head was whipping around the room, searching for something. Natsu sighed and asked once more, "Lucy? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the ni – "

"Bugs," she said.

"Umm…" Happy mumbled, confused. He looked around the room blearily, and despite it being a mess, there were no bugs that he could pinpoint.

"Lucy," Natsu began, a grin spreading across his face, "my house may be a little on the dirty side, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any bugs." He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.

"No," the celestial wizard responded slowly, finally starting to calm down. "There are bugs in my apartment. Bugs…in…my…bed," she squeaked, shivering at the memory and rubbing her shoulders as if to calm herself.

"Ooooh, Lucy's afraid of bugs, Natsu!" Happy teased, landing softly behind her. He started tickling his paw up her arm, imitating the creepy crawlies that their blonde friend hated.

At this, Lucy screamed and jumped so high off the bed that she ended up toppling over onto the floor, face first. Her cheeks were bright red as she scrambled back into a sitting position and she started shaking the invisible bugs off of her body. All the while, Natsu laughed so hard at his partner's antics that he had to grab his sides; he couldn't stop himself from falling over.

"Can it, cat!" Lucy yelled as she realized that it was just Happy who was messing with her. Following that, she gave Natsu a dirty look, agitated that he was still on the floor laughing at her. She held this grimace until he started calming down and moved to a sitting position on the ground.

He wiped away tears from his eyes as his expressive features stared up at her. At this, Lucy immediately began to feel self-conscious—she was still in her thin tank top and gray cotton shorts that she went to sleep in; not something she would wear over to Natsu's house—and looked away.

"So, there are bugs in your apartment. Why did you come here?" the pink-haired wizard asked, still trying not to chuckle at her.

"Well," Lucy nervously started, "I noticed earlier that there were a few ants, so I told myself to call my landlady and get the exterminator to come out in the morning. But as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed a beetle on my floor." Her lips puckered into a frown at the memory. "I killed it and just kept getting ready for bed."

"Aw, why'd you kill it Lucy? It didn't do anything to you!" Happy yelled, still perched on the bed and feigning horror at the thought of her killing a defenseless bug.

"It came into my house completely uninvited. Sort of like a certain dragon slayer and his cat," Lucy grumbled and then continued, "but anyway, I guess after I turned out the lights to go to bed, they all…came out. I woke up with something crawling across my stomach and," Lucy gulped and shuddered, remembering the feeling, "and there were bugs…everywhere. So I got up and ran and here I am." She finished by plopping back down on the bed.

Natsu stared at her, blinking once, and prompted, "Okay, so why did you come here?"

"I don't know, Natsu," the blonde sighed, laying back down on the bed in defeat and flinging a hand across her eyes. She really hadn't realized where she was heading until she was banging on his front door. Inwardly, she supposed that in that moment, she had been frightened, and Natsu, her best friend in the whole world, made her feel safe. She smiled up at the ceiling at that, sat back up and picked up Happy, setting him in her lap. Stroking the top of his head, she said, "I guess I just feel safe around you two!"

Natsu's goofy grin got even bigger and he crossed his arms behind his head. "All right! So, do you need a place to stay for the night?"

"Yes please." Lucy smiled.

Even though she hadn't intended on barging in on her goofball of a friend, she was glad she had. There was just this contagious air around Natsu and Happy that one could not ignore. It had been a few years since Lucy had run away from her father's estate—not counting the seven year gap that followed the incident at Tenrou Island—and in that time, Lucy and Natsu's friendship had blossomed. At first, the dragon slayer and Exceed's intrusions in her apartment were irksome, to say the least. But as time went on, Natsu regularly spent the night. Eventually, a routine began to form and he and Happy would break in through the window, and depending on the time of day, they would eat, play games, go to the guild, and then more often than not, they would fall asleep either watching something on Lucy's movie lacrima or talking.

It was rare for Lucy to visit Natsu's abode in the woods, however. Come to think of it, Lucy thought, I don't think I've ever actually spent the night here.

She shrugged off the thought as Natsu spoke up, "Well, you can take my bed. I'll take the couch. Where are you sleeping, Happy?"

"I'll sleep with Lucy!" the blue feline purred as Lucy scratched a particular spot behind his ears.

"No, Natsu," interrupted Lucy, "I couldn't take your bed. I'll sleep on the couch, don't worry!" The celestial wizard waved it off, suddenly feeling bad about her intrusion.

She had burst into his house in the middle of the night, woken him up, and made him listen to her horror story, after all.

But, Natsu just smiled. He got up from his position on the floor and walked over to his two best friends. His smile became gentler as he looked at them. "No way am I gonna let a pretty girl sleep on that awful excuse for a couch," he said. And just as the words left his mouth, both his and the blonde's cheeks grew pink.

"I… Uh, thanks," Lucy squeaked. "But really, Natsu, I couldn't take your bed." Now, Lucy was starting to get fidgety under his gaze. She quickly stood up and rushed out of his room, a forced smile plastered on her face as she carried Happy to the little kitchen with her.

Natsu stood in his room, staring at the spot where Lucy had been sitting on his bed. He let out a breath he didn't realize that he had been holding and chuckled a bit as he scratched the back of his head.

Lucy? Pretty? He blushed again when he realized that he had just admitted to his best friend that he thought she was pretty. Yeah, everyone thought Lucy was pretty, including Natsu, he just couldn't believe that he had just told her that. Oh well, he thought as he walked out into the living room towards his friends.

He found Lucy drinking a glass of water, though she nearly spat it out because of something Happy said. The dragon slayer didn't quite catch whatever it was though, because Lucy's hand smacked over the cat's mouth and her face flushed up to the roots of her hair. He didn't think much of it as he walked past her and went to the fridge. He bent over, scanning the shelves and pulled out a few of its contents—mostly lunchmeat, soda, cheese sticks and sausages—and piled them high in his arms. He then closed the refrigerator door and with his free hand dragged Lucy with him to the couch and sat down.

"So, what are you gonna do about the bugs?" Natsu asked, stuffing his mouth with the lunch meat he had grabbed from the fridge.

Lucy let herself give a small sigh of relief, grateful for the subject change.

The events that had just transpired were so bizarre to her that she had no idea how to react. If she was being completely honest with herself, she'd had a huge crush on Natsu when she'd first met him. She'd been immediately drawn to his free spirit and wild personality—something she had never really got to experience while living with her father on the estate. But as time went on, and she got to know him more, she realized that it was humorous to try to imagine any sort of romantic relationship between the two of them.

Unlike Juvia, Lucy knew a lost cause when she saw one. Natsu was just so naïve when it came to romance, and it also seemed like he didn't get any of the annoying hormones that came with being a young adult. Natsu was just… Dense. Besides, she was happy with the way their friendship was now. She couldn't ask for a more loyal and loving friend than Natsu. She hadn't thought of him as a romantic prospect for years; that was until Happy had said something earlier while they were in the kitchen.

"He said you were pretty, Lucy! He liiiiik – "

But, he never got to finish due to Lucy's hand slapping over his mouth, right before Natsu walked back in.

When Natsu gulped the massive quantity of food in his mouth down and quirked a brow at her, Lucy remembered that he had asked her a question. "Uh, well, like I said earlier, I'll have to call my landlady in the morning. I hope it's not the entire complex," she groaned at the thought.

"Why not?" Natsu asked, leaning back against the sofa and popping open a can of fizzy soda.

"Well," the blonde looked up at the ceiling, putting her finger to her lips in thought, "that would probably mean that the complex has an infestation. And who knows how long that'll take to fix?" Lucy looked back down to find Natsu's eyes glued to her, staring intensely at something. She cocked her head slightly to the side.

Natsu immediately looked away from her lips and back to her eyes. "Oh," he said and took a quick sip of his drink. He then bit the inside of his cheek in concentration, tapping his finger against the soda can. "What will you do if that happens?"

The young mage took a cheese stick out of Natsu's snack pile and nibbled on it. She thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know. If that does happen, I'll see if I can stay with Erza or Levy."

"You could always stay with us, Lucy!" Happy exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed enthusiastically, propping his hands behind his head, the familiar grin spreading across his face.

Lucy's heart warmed knowing that her friends cared so much for her. "Are you sure I wouldn't be bothering you guys?"

"Come on, Luce, how many times do we break in to your apartment on a weekly basis?" Natsu laughed, "It'll be fun!"

"Okay, if there's something wrong with my apartment, then I'll stay with you guys," Lucy laughed alongside her friends. A wicked thought, deep in the crevices of the celestial wizard's mind, starting needling its way through to her consciousness.

…Do I actually want there to be something wrong with the apartment?

Lucy just pushed the thought away, feeling terrible for thinking such a thing. She's been stressed out recently and it would be fun to hang out with her friends! Nothing more, nothing less.

The rest of the night went on, and Lucy, Natsu and Happy relocated from the incredibly uncomfortable couch to Natsu's bed. When they began talking about their next mission, light began trickling in through the windows of the small house.

Lucy groaned. "Now I'm not going to be able to get to sleep. It's going to be a long day."

"Well," Natsu started, shifting his position on the bed to where he was nearly crushing Happy with his weight. "We could always grab a quick nap before going to the guild."

Happy crawled out from underneath the dragon slayer. "Not me! I'm going to see Carla today!" The cat was positively beaming.

Lucy, on the opposite end of the bed, stretched her feet out so they were near Natsu's chest. "This early? Don't get mad at us when she throws a tantrum."

Happy just smiled at that and said, "No, I think I'll surprise her with a fish! Then she won't be mad at me!"

Lucy and Natsu laughed at this, knowing that Carla's bad mood would certainly not be fixed with a fish, but the stellar mage had to give the cat props for his persistent attitude towards the white Exceed.

"Go get her, buddy!" Natsu laughed and gave his furry friend a high five.

Happy grinned and left, saying something about going to go fish so he could give Carla something fresh. After the cat's departure, Lucy and Natsu were alone, each lying down length-wise on the bed with Natsu's head by the headboard, and Lucy's propped up on a few pillows at the foot of the bed.

The next few moments were spent in comfortable silence. Lucy gazed at Natsu, and he gave his wide grin back in reply. She then remembered, begrudgingly, why she was there in the first place and gave a little huff.

"I can't believe my apartment is riddled with bugs," she complained.

Natsu's grin turned into a little frown. He didn't like seeing Lucy upset; he never did. It was one thing when she was complaining about her rent or how childish she thought he and Gray could be, but this seemed to legitimately stress her out and it made him uncomfortable. He didn't like it when any of his friends were upset or stressed, but when it came to Lucy, he almost took it personally. He felt like it was his duty to see to the fact that she was in a good mood. He took pride in the fact that he could make her smile. So, he decided he would try to do just that.

"How about I just go and scorch all the bugs for you?" he suggested enthusiastically.

"Don't be dumb, Natsu. It won't help if my apartment goes up in flames with the bugs."

Natsu pouted at that. He tried to think of something else, and absentmindedly put his hands on her feet that were next to him. "Hmm. Well, what do you do when you get bugs?" he asked.

"Well, you can try to set up bug traps if there are just a few of them. But, usually, you need to call an exterminator to get rid of them," Lucy said. "I'll have to talk to my landlady today to see if she's gotten any other complaints. But I definitely need an exterminator to come out regardless." She let her eyes flutter close as Natsu started circling his thumbs over the tops of her feet.

It was comforting, and it felt nice.

A little too nice.

A warm sensation began in her belly, and as good as it felt, it made her a little uncomfortable. The feeling only intensified when Natsu actually shifted so that he was making a V with his legs, placing his thighs outside of both of her own, and grabbed one foot and began to gently massage it with the pads of his thumbs.

"N-Natsu? What are you doing?" Lucy stuttered, her eyes shooting open.

"What? I'm massaging your feet. Doesn't that calm girls down?" Natsu murmured questioningly.

He had heard from Wakaba that whenever his wife got too angry or stressed, usually all it took to calm her down was a foot massage. Lucy wasn't nearly as crazy as his guild-mate's wife, but he figured he'd give it a shot since he still wanted her to feel better.

Lucy gave Natsu a look and shrugged.

It wasn't like he would make a move or anything. This was Natsu. Lucy highly doubted he would know sexual tension if it came up and bit him on the ass.

There were a few times in the beginning of their relationship when he'd barged in on her while she was changing and was completely unfazed by the sight of her nearly naked. At first, even while flustered and demanding that he leave to let her have some privacy, it had hurt her womanly pride; he hadn't even glanced at her unclad breasts and his face hadn't even flushed when she walked out in a towel to find him lounging on her bed.

There were a few times when she had found herself in similar situations with Gray, when he had unknowingly walked in after her bath, and even the ice wizard had blushed and gotten embarrassed and turned his head away. But never Natsu. Lucy quickly got used to it however, accepting that their relationship would remain a close friendship and finally came to terms with it.

So this foot massage shouldn't be anything to worry about, she told herself.

Lucy leaned her head against the pillows behind her and started to relax, letting Natsu's calloused hands work magic on her feet. She could tell he had never done this before, because he was a bit too timid in his movements, but the sheer heat of his unnaturally warm body made up for it. His fingers found the arch in her foot and she let out a soft sigh.

She could totally get used to this.

When Natsu heard the breath leave Lucy's lips, he began to feel…funny. Warmth encompassed his belly. He knew heat; he was a fire dragon slayer after all. But this warmth was much different than any fire he had ever felt. It settled low in his belly and slowly spread out through his limbs. It made him stop the massage.

He began to recognize the feeling as lust.

Natsu was slow on the uptake, but he wasn't stupid. And he had the same hormones as every other young man. He usually just ignored those feelings, though. He didn't have the luxury of thinking about girls. He had too many other things to worry about. Whether it was the missions that they went on, or just the fact that he took being a wizard seriously, he never took much thought to delving into his lustful desires. That was why he was so confused when it started to bubble up.

Especially because it was happening while he was with his best friend.

A frustrated groan shook him out of his thoughts and he looked up at Lucy.

"Done already?" she asked, a note of remorse in her voice.

"Uh, no, sorry."

He began his work on her feet again, but his thoughts wandered back to what had just happened. He let his gaze fall upon the blonde that was lying before him, her eyes closed, her mouth parted in what appeared to be pleasure from the massage. Some foreign emotion took a hold of Natsu. He couldn't quite place it, but he liked that that look of pleasure was stemming from what he was doing; it made his movements on her foot bolder, digging a little bit harder in the flesh of her heel.

She let out another breath and his chest swelled. "That feels really good, Natsu. You should give me massages more often." Lucy smiled, eyes still closed, reveling in the feeling. She hadn't had a foot massage in a long, long time.

"Really?" Natsu asked. He switched feet and began the ritual on the other. The foot that he had just set down curled up so that her leg was bent, the outside of her thigh resting on the inside of his.

"Yeah. After this, I could give you one too, if you want," Lucy offered, suddenly feeling a little guilty that Natsu had been so hospitable to her, even going so far as to give her a foot massage.

Natsu thought about that for a moment, still working on her foot. He pursed his lips a little.

"How about I take a rain check?" he said.

And even though her eyes were closed, she could hear a smile in his voice. She nodded and went back to relaxing as he continued the massage. He was inwardly glad that she couldn't see the tension that settled on his face. He didn't know where these feelings were coming from, but he definitely knew that it wouldn't be a good idea for her to touch him.

After a while, Natsu's hand started to cramp up and he gently eased her foot back down. She lifted her head, opened her eyes, and smiled at him afterwards. A lump formed in his throat at the sight. If he didn't know any better, he would have called her… Cute.

"Shit," Lucy muttered, her head falling back to the pillow.

"What is it?" Natsu frowned, feeling the moment dissipate.

Lucy sighed and lifted herself off of her back and sat up, legs crossed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I don't have any clothes. But I don't want to go back to the apartment," she stated sourly.

"I could get your stuff for you if you want. Bugs don't bother me."

"Oh, Natsu, you don't have to do that," Lucy said, again feeling the pang of guilt. He was being so nice to her. Not that he wasn't always nice to her, but he seemed to be really going out of his way for her recently. And while it made her feel good that he cared for her, she still couldn't help but feel bad.

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind. It could be a part of my morning run!" Natsu smiled at her again. "Just tell me what you need. You can take a nap while I'm out."

Lucy bit her lip. She was pretty tired. "…Okay."

She told him everything she'd need to get ready: her toothbrush, a change of clothes, and her boots. Afterwards, Natsu helped her under the covers and she couldn't help but blush because he tucked her in. She hadn't been tucked in since she was a child.

Oh grow up Lucy, he's just being hospitable, she thought to herself.

Natsu was almost out of the room and then it was his turn to blush. He stopped in the doorway and turned around. Lucy looked at him questioningly as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Um. What kind of clothes? Do you um… I mean… Like… Underwear too?" Natsu asked shyly.

Lucy looked away in embarrassment. She totally forgot that he'd need to get her underwear and a bra as well as the shirt and skirt she had asked him for. Still looking down, she nodded bashfully. "And a bra," she piped, her voice small.

Natsu just nodded and ran out.

As he walked up the path to her apartment, he was nervously fumbling with his hands. Sure, he'd poked around in her underwear drawer before, but this was different. He'd have to actually sift through them and pick them out. And a bra too.

As he climbed through the window, he looked around her apartment. Wow, Lucy wasn't lying. There were bugs everywhere, he thought to himself as he noticed the carpenter ants crawling up the walls and on the ceiling. He felt bad for her. Carpenter ants weren't going to be easy to get rid of, he knew that much. They were a lot like termites. He remembered hearing about how the boy's dorms had them a few years back.

He then remembered the deal that he and Lucy had made. If these carpenter ants were going to take a while to get rid of, that meant Lucy would stay at his house a bit longer. He smiled to himself at that. He enjoyed Lucy's company, and it was kind of nice having her around his house for a change.

But his mood shifted to anxious again as he looked at her closet. He gulped, steeling himself to grab her clothes. In the closet, he quickly found the blue and white button up shirt, and the blue skirt Lucy had told him to get. He then walked over to the drawers and opened them.

Neatly lining the inside of the top drawer were tons of panties of all sorts.

He briefly wondered in amazement at how someone could own so many pairs of underwear. He became curious, looking at them. He started rifling through them, finding some that were fairly decent, but they all had some sort of silk or lace. He kept going until he found a pair of red ones. An image of Lucy in them suddenly clouded his vision. He shook his head and grabbed them, throwing them with the other clothes he had picked out.

He opened the second drawer and found socks.

Okay, socks are fine, I can deal with those, he thought as he picked out a pair. He then moved down one more drawer and opened it to find it lined with lacy, and quite honestly sexy, bras.

His jaw dropped and he had to slam it shut. He closed his eyes and braced himself. He knew Lucy would smack him if she saw him react like this. It was just so damn hard not to. He opened his eyes again as he took in the sight of the bras before him. He found one that was the same shade of red as the panties and picked it up, this time examining it.

It was red and lacy, with black studs lining the upper cups. He couldn't help but imagine Lucy again, wearing it. His mouth watered at the thought, and to his horror, something twitched between his legs. Shoving the panties and the bra in-between the shirt and skirt as he rushed to the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, he then finally grabbed her boots. He then quickly hopped out of her window, closed it shut, and walked back to his house, all thoughts of his morning run behind him.

When he arrived back at his house, he walked into his room and found Lucy in a deep sleep. He smiled, laid her clothes down on the table a few feet away from his bed, and walked up to her sleeping form. He looked at her with a gentle smile on his face.

She really was his best friend. He knew that no matter what happened, including if she ever found out about his lecherous reactions to her undergarments earlier, their relationship was rock-solid. He knew what companionship was like. He had been a part of Fairy Tail for many years now. He considered Happy, Erza, and even Gray to be his best friends—even if the ice freak did happen to grind his gears.

But there was a different sort of affection that he held for Lucy. She was everything he wasn't. She was outrageously smart and cultured but never made him feel bad about his lack of real education. She was witty and funny in a way that he wasn't. Where he was impulsive, she was always thinking of her next move, where he was wild, she was grounded. That wasn't to say that Lucy wasn't any fun, because Natsu always had fun when he was with her. Their personalities just melded so perfectly with each other.

Not for the first time, Natsu thanked the heavens that he was able to have such an amazing person in his life.

He started feeling the drowsiness of his lack of sleep and decided that even though he really wanted the bed, he didn't want to wake her up. Sleeping on the crappy couch sounded incredibly unappealing, though. He debated with himself for a while and decided on leaning up against the bed; he grabbed the blanket off of the couch, knowing he wasn't going to be sleeping for long anyway.

Taking one last look at Lucy's sleeping face as he leaned up against his bed, he bent one leg up and wrapped an arm around it, with the blanket covering him snuggly. Before long, his soft, sleepy snores matched the stellar mage's as they both drifted fondly away into their dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Why hello there again! Look! It's another chapter! I'm trying to update as much as possible.

So last chapter I totally forgot to say thank you to _**leoslady4ever **_and _**ToxiNeena **_for taking a look and giving me amazing advice! Guys, that first chapter would not be what it is right now without their help. Okay, anyways, enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima is the amazing person who owns Fairy Tail. And I am not him.**_

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Lucy slowly drifted into consciousness, the last remnants of her dream slipping away, the only reminder being the hot feeling she had on her lips from the dream.

_Mmm, what a dream, _Lucy drowsily thought to herself. She could still feel the hotness of the man's mouth on her own, like slow breaths, lips still hovering above her. She licked her lips, trying to hold on to that feeling a bit longer. It felt like another breath ghosted over the pink tongue that was still slowly making its way over her lips. She stopped.

This wasn't a dream.

She hesitantly opened her chocolate eyes. She had somehow managed to scoot all the way over to the other side of the mattress and her head was dangerously close to falling off of the bed. But that isn't what caught the breath in her throat.

Natsu was asleep, leaning up against his bed, his pink head all the way back, almost reaching the top of the mattress, and his face was tilted up towards Lucy's. Their lips were only two inches apart, and the soft, dangerously hot breaths she felt hovering over her lips were coming from the dragon slayer.

She felt two things in this moment: alarm and perhaps greater than that, curiosity. She let her eyes focus on the parted lips that were just mere inches from her own. His breath was lax and alluring. She thought to herself how cute the usually wild wizard was when he was asleep.

Looking over his features, she decided that it was incredibly unfair that every part of his body was perfect. He had clear, soft skin and his cheek and jaw bones were so defined and handsome that they should be illegal. And even though they were closed, she stared at the eyes that never betrayed his emotions. They were always wildly expressive and a beautiful, dark hazel with green specks. He also had dark eyelashes that any girl would be jealous of.

Her eyes raked over his pink, spiky tresses; she didn't know how he managed to get it tousled in such a way that it looked good. They seemed to defy gravity, sticking up at all ends.

The thought was lost to her however when she stole another look at his parted lips. She had never noticed before, but they looked _soft. _Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what it would be like to suck that bottom lip into her mouth.

Since he was still asleep, and Lucy hadn't moved, her eyes trailed south. His beloved scarf had loosened in his current position so she could see a little bit of his neck. She could just barely make out his scar, the one that reminded her that even Natsu was a little venerable.

His blanket was rested on his shoulders so her eyes had no access to his perfectly toned chest and abdomen. Lucy always marveled at how someone could stay so fit and eat as much as he did.

Since she couldn't gaze down any farther without being prohibited by the scruffy blanket that he had no doubt yanked off the couch, she moved her gaze back up to his lips, again thinking about how soft they must be.

As quietly as she could, she moved her arm out from underneath her chest and dared reach for his face. She stopped, mere centimeters away from his cheek. Her fingers wanted so desperately to reach out and touch his perfect, tanned skin.

After a moment of an inward battle with herself, she just decided that it was a rare sight to see Natsu this calm and she had to admit, he was adorable laying there. So, slowly, her hand closed the distance and Natsu let out a sigh in his slumber. She had to hold back a giggle. As gently as she could manage, she trailed her fingers from his cheek to the side of his mouth. Her actions emboldened she put her thumb right at the corner of his lips. When she was positive he was still fast asleep, she glided the thumb across his lower lip.

Soft was definitely an understatement.

Natsu sighed again and his eyes began fluttering open. Lucy froze in panic as his eyes met hers. He started for a moment, taking in their closeness and when he started to say, "Lucy?" the formation of the words made his tongue touch her thumb and she squeaked and finally pulled away. He was thoroughly confused to say the very least. Why had Lucy been touching him?

"Luce?" He questioned, groggily, opening his mouth into a yawn. He looked at her curiously while her cheeks flared up.

"Uh," Lucy fought to come up with an excuse, "I was just wiping some drool off of you." She sighed in relief when she came up with something relatively believable.

"Oh. Thanks," Natsu stammered and started to stand. He stretched and let the blanket fall to the floor and immediately, Lucy felt weight crushing down on her.

"_Oomp_! Natsu, get off!" She protested, shoving his back, trying to get his body which had flopped down onto her off of her.

"But Luceee! Sleeping like that was so uncomfortable!" He whined, putting his hands behind his head as he awkwardly spread on his back over her body, pushing her into the mattress.

She finally rolled out from underneath him to the other side of the bed in a huff and looked at the clock. It was almost noon. She groaned. It was late, but she was still tired from staying up until the sun rose.

"Why didn't you sleep on the couch?" she finally questioned, turning on her side to face him.

Still on his back, his hands crooked beneath his neck, he tilted his head toward her and in a very serious tone snorted, "Lucy, that couch is a piece of shit."

The stellar mage erupted in a fit of laughter. She knew it was true. He had the world's worst couch. Nothing in Earthland could ever match how uncomfortable that thing was. It was old and the fake leather had cracked in most places.

He smiled his fangs at her and laughed along with her. He opened up the arm closest to her from behind his head and beckoned her to come closer.

This was normal behavior for the two of them. Some may even call it cuddling, but it was something they always did at Lucy's. For some reason however, and maybe it was because she knew how soft those lips could be, and his vest had fallen open, and she was just feeling _weird, _Lucy hesitated.

Natsu again beckoned her to come closer to him and with a look at the boyishly handsome face that she knew she could trust more than anyone on Earthland, she scooted closer to him. He made an audible grunt of approval and rested his hand on her back.

Something in her stomach fluttered a bit at the innocent touch that should be so familiar, so she told her inner voice to can it as she and Natsu stayed like that for a few minutes longer.

When he felt that Lucy was drifting off to sleep again, her fiery friend nudged her and said, "Hey, Luce. Don't fall asleep. I got your clothes, they're over on the table.

She sighed and got up from her comfortable and warm position on the bed and walked over to her clothes. She picked them up and walked to the bathroom, saying that she was going to take a quick shower.

After closing the door, she looked hesitantly at her clothes that she had put down on the counter. She didn't see her underwear or bra anywhere. She started to wonder if Natsu was too embarrassed to get them, when she lifted her shirt from her skirt and almost fell right where she was when she realized that he had picked out a matching pair of underwear and bra; one of her sexiest sets. It was a sexy lacy bra with black studs lining the cups, and the underwear were almost complete lace hipsters that showed a good amount of her rounded cheeks.

She wondered if he had looked long to find matching ones, and kinda giggled at the thought of Natsu trying to pick out her clothes. She started to feel better until she realized that this just wouldn't work. Her favorite button-up shirt was white and blue, and pretty thin. The red bra would surely show through.

She fumbled with her shirt for a minute and then started the water. After realizing there was no other real option in sight, unless she wanted to where dirty clothes or something a tad indecent, she came to the conclusion that she would have to borrow one of Natsu's shirts. She hoped he had a plain black t-shirt that wouldn't look too ridiculous with her blue skirt and boots.

She hopped into the shower and began her ritual. She had to settle for his shampoo and was displeased to find that he didn't have any conditioner. She went on anyway, lathering up her body and rinsing the shampoo from her hair.

She sighed as she finished her shower. Turing off the water, she stepped out and wrapped what had to be Natsu's towel around herself and found her friend in the same position she had left him, staring up at the ceiling.

"Natsu," She started timidly.

"Yeah, Luce?" He didn't look away from his white ceiling.

"Um, about the clothes…"

A worried look spread across the dragon slayer's features as he turned to look at his friend in his very own towel. "Did I get the wrong ones?"

"Well, no. I mean. It's kinda... Complicated." When he gave no further response than the crinkling of his pink eyebrows, she continued, "Well, you see… The uh, bra you got me… Well it's a really bright red…"

"Was that wrong?" Natsu suddenly felt really bad. He didn't mean to upset her or offend her. He was also tensing up, afraid that she knew about the pervy thoughts that were going on in his head when he was picking them out

"Well, the thing is, the shirt is mostly white, and it's pretty thin. The red will show through the shirt and…" She didn't need to finish when she saw realization spread over his face. "It's totally my fault though, I should have told you about that when I asked for that shirt. It's not your fault, Natsu!" She tried encouraging him.

"Well, what are you gonna do? Do you want me to go back and get another one? I don't want other people seeing your…" He cut himself off, realizing how that must have sounded. He sounded like a possessive boyfriend. _Stupid! _He berated himself.

Lucy didn't seem to catch it though, "No, I was just wondering if you have a plain back shirt I could borrow?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Natsu immediately smiled. Lucy was always wearing cute, stylish and girly things, and he couldn't help but think how cute she would look wearing his shirt that would no doubt be too big for her. Plus, it'd be _his _shirt she'd be wearing and for some reason, that made Natsu feel really good. He jumped to the dresser in his room and started rifling through his clothes and finally found a black v-neck that he wore when he was a bit younger and it was too small for him now, so he figured it'd fit her better than anything else he had. He tossed it to her and she looked at it questioningly.

"This looks way too small to be yours." She assesed.

"It was from when I was younger. I don't change my wardrobe very much, so I still have stuff like that." He replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

A smile lit across her face, "You know, you could always give them to me. I love baggy shirts to wear to bed."

His answering grin made her heart melt as he said, "Sure, no problem!"

She smiled at that as she turned away and walked back into the bathroom. For some reason, wearing Natsu's clothes to bed seemed really… intimate. But she couldn't help her goofy grin as she peeled out of the towel and started getting dressed. When she finally pulled the shirt over her head she looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't too bad. It was a bit baggy, especially over her arms and shoulders, but it wasn't as bad as she thought.

She wondered what age Natsu was when he started to fill out. She had seen a few pictures of him when he was really young, but not too many of his preteen and younger teenage years. She wondered if Romeo was any indication. He was still young, but he had a serious six pack (Lucy had sometimes caught a certain sky dragon slayer ogling over). She wondered if Natsu was like that when he was young. The arms of the shirt had obviously been stretched due to his muscle. When she finally decided that she looked all right, she called out Cancer to do her hair.

When all of that was said and done, she walked back into the room. Natsu smiled. Yes, she definitely looked good in his clothes.

While Natsu was showering she decided that she would go to her apartment first and talk to the landlady about the bugs, and then head over to the guild. When Natsu came out in the same towel that she was previously using, Lucy left the room to give him some privacy, cursing herself for letting her eyes linger a bit too long on the V of muscles that the towel rested on.

She made her way to the living room, avoided the couch and sat on the hammock. She smiled, remembering the story he had told her about it.

"_Why don't you have a bed, Natsu?" Lucy asked her friend. It was the second time she was over at his house (the first time being when she snuck in and ended up cleaning it). Natsu had agreed to give her a proper tour of the little cabin in the woods._

"_I don't know. When I was younger, the house was totally abandoned, and when I asked Gildarts about it, he helped me fix it up. I didn't have a lot of money back then, and didn't want his help to pay for anything, so most of the stuff was done by hand, and for the first two or three years, it was more of a shack than a house. But since I didn't have enough money for anything since I couldn't take on any good jobs by myself, I got this hammock to sleep on. I found that couch outside of a furniture store. They said I could just take it. Now I know why. It's awful. Anyway, I didn't have enough money for a bed."_

_Lucy thought about that. Gildarts helping Natsu build a house. It must have been really good for Natsu to have such a close male figure. Even though he was gone a lot, Lucy really respected Gildarts for being like a father to Natsu, not to mention how much he loved his daughter, Cana._

"_Isn't it a bit small for you now though?" She asked looking at the hammock. It looked really old and super worn._

_Natsu scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess."_

"_Why don't we go get you a bed? That can't be good for your back, Natsu."_

_However, this had the opposite affect than what the celestial spirit was expecting. His eyes went wide as if she had just insulted him. "Well if we get a bed, don't we have to get rid of the hammock?" He asked afraid of her answer._

_Lucy just laughed at this and gave him a huge smile. "Of course not! Come on, we can put it in your back room."_

To Natsu, that hammock was his safe place when he was a kid. Even though it seemed like the first few years of living there were a bit rough considering the condition of the cabin when he got it, that hammock was home for him. Even now, he uses it when he's relaxing or eating.

Lucy's thoughts were interrupted by the dragon slayer himself as he was walking out of his room. "Want to go to the guild?"

"I have to go to my apartment first, you can go ahead without me though."

"Okay, well let's go!"

They headed out and started walking towards their perspective destinations, walking in tandem and conversation flowing easily. When they parted ways they each smiled and waved at each other. When she turned the corner of Strawberry Street, she gave a huff and tried to prepare for the worst. When she came up to her stair steps, her landlady (who must have been watching for her out the window) met her at the top.

"I'm sorry young lady, I can't let you in." The older woman crossed her arms and planted her feet to emphasize her statement.

"Uh, why not?"

"The whole building is undergoing extermination. We have roaches, carpenter ants, termites-"

"All right, all right, I get it. I don't want to know what else. Do you know how long it's going to take?"

"At least a week, but it could definitely be more. They have to go through every room. We might be looking at demolition because of the wood damage. We'd be rebuilding of course, but I won't know until next week." The woman grumbled in reply. She looked even more stressed out than usual, Lucy noted.

"How did this come about so quickly? I mean, everything was fine a few days ago." Lucy pointed out.

At this, her landlady became visibly angry. Her cheeks puffed out and an angry vein appeared at her temple. "It seems that this was some kind of revenge a wizard came up with for her ex-boyfriend. Crazy kids and your magic…" The lady griped.

Lucy's heart sank. This was worse than she could have prepared for. She felt deflated.

"Well, can I at least go up and get my stuff?"

"To express my apologies for the situation, I'm hiring movers to move the residents' belongings out to the places that they will be staying during the duration of this unfortunate time." The lady recited as if she had rehearsed it in front of the mirror. She then pulled out a pen and a pad from her pocket, gave it to Lucy, and asked to write down the address of the place she would be staying.

As she was writing down Natsu's address, she was glad that she had already made arrangements.

She gave her goodbye and thanks to the older lady and started walking to the guild. Even though she was put off by the situation, she tried to think optimistically. She could at least attempt to have fun at Natsu's. _Like a really weird, unexpected vacation! _Lucy thought to herself, chuckling a bit. By the time she opened the doors to the guild, she found her way to the bar and ordered her usual milkshake.

"I'll get that right out for you, Lucy!" Mira said sweetly and walked away. As Lucy waited for her drink she scoped out the guild to see who all was there.

Cana, Levy and Erza were sitting at their usual table, Wendy, Happy and Carla were sitting at theirs, Gajeel and Lily were over in their corner talking about some fighting technique (even though Gajeel kept stealing glances towards Levy's direction) and Natsu was talking animatedly with Lisanna. It seemed that Gray was still on his solo mission, although he was due to be back soon- he had been gone for nearly a month and Lucy missed the exhibitionist dearly.

Lucy and Mira made small talk while her drink was being prepared. She explained the whole situation with her apartment to her white-haired friend.

"Oh no! That sounds just awful!" Mira exclaimed. "Who will you be staying with? Erza? Or maybe Levy?"

"Actually, I'm going to be staying with Natsu," Lucy answered casually, blowing away a strand of hair that was in her eyes.

"Oh my!" Mira giggled behind her fingers.

Lucy glared at the barmaid and quickly explained, "You know it isn't like that. Besides, why isn't it a big deal that he ends up at my place all the time but you always make a big fuss whenever I go over to his?" Lucy shot at her. She knew Mira was just having fun, but sometimes it really did irritate the blonde.

"Well, you have to understand that Natsu never has any visitors. I myself have never been there. When it comes to his home, he likes to keep that part of him to himself. I think you should be honored that he's okay with you staying. Did he offer?" Mira asked in her friendliest voice, attempting to ease the tension.

Lucy thought about that for a second. _Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone else talk about Natsu's. I know Gildarts has been there, but I don't know of anyone else. _When she realized Mira's eyes were looking at her, waiting for an answer, "Yeah, he did actually."

"You're something special to him, you know that?" Mira said pleasantly.

Lucy blushed a bit at this, and deciding to not engage in that topic any further, she paid her for the drink and walked away sipping it out of a straw. She debated on whether she wanted to talk more to Natsu about her apartment's situation but when he saw how he and Lisanna were practically leaning over the table to talk more enthusiastically, she decided she would leave them alone. Even though it's been a few years since Lisanna came back from Edolas, Lucy still felt relatively uncomfortable around her. She was very pleasant, but Lucy never bothered her and Natsu whenever they were talking. She always felt like if she did, she'd be interrupting something intimate and would feel very self-conscious.

So she opted on sitting with her girls.

"Hey Lu!" Levy shouted and waved her over.

Lucy smiled and sat next to Erza on the other side of Cana and Levy.

"What's up girlie?" Cana mumbled drunkenly after a long gulp of ale. She belched and smiled at the blonde, who smiled back just as widely.

"Not much, drunk." She decided on answering. She didn't feel like talking about her apartment situation, afraid that if she told them, Levy might get her feelings hurt and think Lucy didn't want to stay with her, and that Erza would force her to stay with her, using a sword to prove her point.

They began talking about the usual things, Cana's lack of a boyfriend, Levy's new favorite book, and Erza giving her opinions on all the topics. Lucy smiled and settled in to the familiarity of the conversation. They talked for a good while, and it was relaxing. These three were her best girlfriends and she couldn't be more at ease.

"All I'm saying is that I could show him a good time," Cana finished, also finishing her pint.

Levy blushed at that, "Laxus? Really? I guess…"

"I think you two would be perfect for each other. You both have fantastic bodies and it seems like you are both capable of using them," Erza nodded in agreement.

Even Lucy blushed at that. Erza could be so blunt sometimes. That, however made Cana smile mischievously. Just before she was about to say something that was no doubt incredibly crude, the guild doors slammed open.

Lucy turned around to see who was walking in.

"Your clothes!" Cana shouted at the man who was walking in. And then muttered into her cup, "Hasn't even walked in and his pants are gone."

Lucy got up out of her seat to run up to the ice mage, not caring that he was lacking the majority of his aforementioned attire. She jumped into a hug and he spun her around.

"Gray! It's so good to see you! I've missed you!" She smiled at him when he finally put her down. She handed him his pants and he laughed.

"It's good to see you too Sis! I didn't think that that job would take so long," Gray chuckled, slipping back into said pants.

Gray and Lucy's relationship had surprised many people at the guild. For a while, many people were gossiping that they were secretly dating. But the fact of the matter was, Gray and Lucy were like long-lost brother and sister. She eventually found that she could even tell Gray things that she couldn't tell the girls. Not that she didn't trust them, but because Gray was really like her brother. And after all of her family was gone, Lucy really clung to him. And Gray clung back. Eventually, everyone in the guild realized that their relationship was completely platonic, save for Juvia, but Lucy knew that that probably wasn't going to change any time soon unless her 'brother' could admit that he had some feelings for the rain woman.

"Well you'll have to tell me all about it! Want to find Juvia? She's missed you too." Lucy asked pointedly, a smile on her lips.

Gray just laughed and said, "Sure," before they quickly found her and sat at an empty table and Gray began recalling every detail of his mission to both the girls. Lucy let Juvia sit next to Gray to practically smother him, and even though Gray pretended to be annoyed, she caught the curve in his lips whenever she would complement him or how his fingers reached out a few times but he caught himself. _I guess he missed her too. _Lucy smiled to herself.

"Oh wow, my beloved! You were so brave!" Juvia gushed for the umpteenth time.

"It's no big deal. It took a while to track, but the monster itself wasn't anything special." Gray shrugged, as if his near month long mission was a piece of Erza's cake.

At that, Juvia just swooned. Lucy snickered and they continued their conversation. Lucy distantly thought that her life was as close to perfect as it could get at the moment.

Then she remembered her apartment.

She groaned and rested her head on the table, startling Gray and Juvia.

"Is love-rival all right?" Juvia asked with surprising concern.

"Juvia, when are you going to stop calling me that? You know Gray is like a brother to me," Lucy stated for what had to be the millionth time.

Gray just snorted, knowing that was a lost cause, and also asked, "What's wrong, Sis?"

"It's nothing big. I've got it all worked out, it's just frustrating." Lucy finally answered her friends.

"What is it, love-rival?"

"My apartment." She bit the inside of her lip in agitation.

"Oh, is rent coming up?" Gray asked with sincerity. Even though she knew he was looking out for her, and it was true that she had trouble paying her rent sometimes, the question sort of irked her, like he thought she wasn't responsible enough. They really were like siblings sometimes.

She sighed, trying to keep her voice level, "No, that's not it. My rent isn't the problem. Apparently some psycho wizard somehow infested the whole apartment with bugs to get back at an ex-boyfriend or something. So it's gonna take a while before they can fix everything. My landlady said they might even have to rebuild the whole building because of the wood damage."

"Oh wow, that's rough. Where are you going to stay?" Gray asked with worry.

"Well, last night is when I realized the bugs were everywhere and eventually freaked out and ran to Natsu's. He said he'd let me stay with him until the place is ready for me to move back in. My landlady hired movers to get my stuff to his place at least." Lucy replied, trying her best to remain optimistic and finished the rest of her milkshake.

Gray's brows furrowed. "Are you sure that that's a good idea, Lucy?"

"What do you mean?"

He thought for a second, looking at her hard. He decided he didn't want to worry her even more and decided upon, "Nothing. Hey, so I was wondering if you and I could get a chance to catch up? Wanna meet me at my place around four?"

Juvia blanched (as she always did whenever she knew the two were going to be hanging out alone) and gave Lucy a glare that sent shivers up her spine. She really did want to hang out with Gray, she missed him, but she didn't want Juvia to freak out and think that she was encroaching on Juvia's territory. "Sure. I'll leave you two to catch up in the meantime!" Lucy said, getting up from the table.

Juvia looked a little less homicidal and even smiled at Lucy, and the stellar mage decided to go over to Natsu and Lisanna to tell her friend about the arrangements.

Going over to the table, she began getting uncomfortable, as she always did when she was alone with those two. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she always had this fear that whenever she first joined Fairy Tail, she sort of replaced the hole in Natsu's heart that Lisanna had once occupied when he had thought that Lisanna was dead. Whenever she came back, he was so happy. Lucy was of course happy for everyone in the guild too, especially Mira and Elfman, but she was anxious that everyone would push her away.

The first few weeks, all attention was on Lisanna and Lucy had taken a few easy solo missions to let them reconnect. When she came back from them though, everyone had greeted her and she realized that she and Lisanna were two completely different people and not even Natsu could compare them to each other. That fact made things a lot easier on Lucy, but it was still sort of weird being around the two of them and she could never put her finger on it.

She put a happy face on however, and walked up to the two friends.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu bellowed giving her his trademark grin.

"Hello Lucy! How are you doing?" Lisanna asked sweetly.

"I'm all right, has Natsu told you about my little predicament?" Lucy replied, standing at the head of the table, fiddling her thumbs behind her back, the only sign that she was uneasy.

"No, what's wrong?"

Lucy explained her situation up until what Natsu currently knew.

"Oh. That's unfortunate," Was all Lisanna replied with, looking away. Lucy wondered about the sudden change in atmosphere but continued.

"Yeah, but it's all right. Natsu," she changed her attention to him, "My landlady said she got some people to move my stuff over to your place. But it's worse than we had originally thought. It might take a few weeks, but we won't know until the end of this week." Lucy informed him, still confused about Lisanna's sour demeanor.

"That's okay Lucy! You know you can stay as long as you need to." He said matter-of-factly. Lucy's heart swelled again.

"I know. Thanks, Natsu. Anyway, since Gray came back, we're going to hang out today to catch up. I'm meeting him at his place later."

"Yeah, I saw him come in earlier." He thought for a second and then another wide smile stretched itself across his face, "I know! I'm gonna fight him!" He decided, getting up from the bench.

"No, Natsu!" Lucy had to grab his arm to stop the imminent rampage that was about to take place, "He's talking with Juvia. You know how much she missed him. She'll have the place flooded if you take Gray away from her." The stellar mage reprimanded.

Natsu considered this for a moment and sat back down, mumbling something about not having a decent fight in a while. Lucy giggled. Even if they didn't admit it, Natsu and Gray were very close, and she knew that on some emotional degree (even though it might be very small) Natsu missed the ice wizard.

"Well do you wanna join us?" Natsu finally settled for. He made a gesture to the empty seat next to him.

Lucy looked over at Lisanna who still seemed to be pouting at something on the grain of the table and shook her head, not wanting to intrude. "Thanks, but I think I'll do some grocery shopping. You don't have much food left, and it's the least I can do since you're letting me stay with you."

Natsu and Lisanna said their goodbyes and went back to talking as Lucy headed out of the guild. And as she walked away to do some shopping, she still couldn't help but wonder why Lisanna had that gloomy look on her face.

* * *

**AN: **So there it is! I really like the idea of Lucy and Gray being super close. I hope you think so too, and if you do, next chapter will really warm your hearts!

Okay, so as a writer I tend to do things a little differently. I don't have a set end to this story. I believe that as I'm writing, the characters will tell me where to go.

Having that said, I'd really like to hear from you guys what you'd like to see! If you have any major plot points or even little scenes that you'd like, **let me know! **Seriously guys, your reviews mean the world to me, and if you want to see something happen, just tell me and I can make it so!

Again, thank you so much for the support! Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Oh look! Another chapter! Thank you all so much for reviewing! Enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or the sexy characters.**_

* * *

Lucy walked through Magnolia that afternoon going to different market places shopping for Natsu and Happy's favorite foods. Her last stop was the feline's favorite fish market, _The Captain's Lodge_.

"Hello Lucy! Coming to buy fish for Happy again?" The market owner, Misha asked kindly. He was only a little taller than Lucy and his baby blue hair was in a tight pony tail by his neck. Lucy was a regular here. She bought Happy fish all the time.

"Yes sir! What have you got for me today?"

They talked for a little while and Lucy bought Happy three delicious looking red snappers that had a great price, then said her goodbyes to make the journey back to Natsu's.

While she was walking through the town with bags in her hands, she couldn't help but wonder about what Gray had meant when he asked her if it was indeed a good idea for her to stay at Natsu's. She shook her head, causing her long blonde tresses to toss about around her shoulders and kept herself busy while humming her favorite tune.

When she got to her makeshift home she was pleased to find that her belongings were on the doorstep with a little note on top of one of the boxes:

_Lucy, I didn't bother with the furniture, but your clothes and other possessions are here in your boxes. If the furniture becomes damaged, we will compensate you. Also, rent will not be due this month._

Lucy was ecstatic to find that she had 70,000 extra Jewel to spend, and then made the multiple and sweat-inducing trips to bring the groceries and the boxes inside with her. She put the groceries in the fridge and cabinets, and put the boxes in order in the living room. With a deep breath, she looked at her work with satisfaction. She contemplated unpacking, but realized what time it was when she brushed her fingers over Horrologium's key.

"Shit! I'm going to be late meeting Gray!" She began towards the door, only to be stopped by –or rather, ran into- Natsu's form.

An _oomph _resounded between the both of them and he steadied the both of them by grabbing her shoulders.

"Oi, Luce, why in such a hurry?" He laughed when he found composure.

"I'm gonna be late meeting Gray. I told you I was meeting him today to hang out," She reminded him, walking around him.

"Oh. Okay. Well what time are you coming back?" Natsu asked. He had forgotten that she was supposed to be hanging out with the ice wizard and a frown settled on his handsome face as he laced his fingers behind his head.

"Don't know. Might spend the night. I haven't seen him in a long time." Lucy answered, "Anyways, I'll see you later, Natsu!" She waved and left the house, leaving a disappointed dragon slayer in her wake.

She hurried towards her adoptive brother's apartment, excited to be able to catch up. She hummed to herself and summoned Plue to make the journey with her. The shaky spirit was always good company when she was going places. She hopped on up the edge of the canal as usual and gave a friendly wave to the men in the boat beside her.

"Careful, blondie!" One of them shouted.

She just smiled at him and continued making her way to Gray's.

When she finally arrived at his apartment, she didn't bother knocking and walked right on in. Gray's apartment was always very neat; a total bachelor pad. It was extremely stylish in a subtle '_I didn't try to make it look this good_' sort of way. She also thought it was ironic that the color pallet was of deep blues.

She found Gray in the kitchen, in only a shirt and boxers, making tea.

"Hey there!" She greeted, coming up behind him.

"Hey Sis!" He turned smiling at his friend. He finished pouring the water in two cups and grabbed Lucy's favorite tea and placed the bags of herbs inside. "Let's go out on the balcony," He suggested and led them both out to the sliding glass door to his favorite spot (besides the guild hall). The view from this spot allowed them to look at an expanse of Magnolia and he often found himself in thought on this balcony.

They sat on the chairs that settled outside and Gray picked up a box that was on the glass table in front of them.

"Hey, I thought you quit smoking?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Gray chuckled, his midnight-blue hair settling over his eyes as he pulled out a cigarette and put it between his lips. He pulled a black lighter from his box of cigarettes and cupped his hand around the flame, effectively lighting it. "Yeah, you know that never works."

Lucy just shook her head. She didn't really mind the habit. She actually quite liked the smell of cigarette smoke. Her father would smoke in his study and it reminded her of him. "Yeah, yeah. I should have figured." She smiled, taking a sip of her tea, letting the mixture of the herbal taste settle in her belly and the smell of smoke wash over her. She relaxed back in her chair.

"So," Gray started after blowing out a long wisp of smoke from his lips.

"So?" Lucy queried.

"You're staying with Natsu." It wasn't a question. But Lucy's eyebrows arched at the sound of his voice. If she didn't know any better, it almost sounded like he was about to lecture her.

"Yeah, so what?" Lucy countered.

"You're staying with Natsu." He repeated, arching up an eyebrow to look at her like she was missing something.

"Yes, I'm staying with Natsu, Gray, what about it?" She was starting to get irritated with the look he was giving her. It was almost like he was chastising her. And she didn't like it.

"Why couldn't you stay with Levy or Erza?" He asked her smoothly.

"I told you. I went to Natsu's when the whole bug debacle happened and he offered to let me stay. Besides, his house is bigger than Levy's and Erza's spare rooms aren't guest rooms, they're filled with her armor. I'm sure they would have let me, but Natsu's place will be more comfortable for the period I'll have to be staying there." She noticed that her voice had defiance in it, like she was getting defensive. It irked her. She didn't have anything to be defensive about, she reasoned with herself; she was just staying with a friend.

Gray just sighed and took another long drag of his cigarette and blew it out. He looked out off of the balcony. He was trying to find words to say without offending Lucy or making her angry. He knew first hand just how temperamental she was and didn't want to poke the bear.

He looked at her and as calmly as he could he began, "Lucy, as much as everyone would like to believe that Natsu is a thick idiot, we both know that he's still a guy. I just don't know if it's a good idea for you to stay at his place for such a long period of time." He prepared for some recoil on Lucy's part, and he definitely prepared for a sassy retort. But what he did not prepare for was laughter.

Lucy was laughing so hard that she was gripping her sides. _This is too good_, she thought. She finally took a deep breath to calm herself down, but she was still giggling. "Gray, are we seriously having this discussion? This is _Natsu Dragneel _we are talking about. He's stayed at my place so many times, I lost track after the first month! This has never been a topic of discussion. Why now?" She was still giggling and had to wipe a tear that started forming at her eye.

"Lucy, I'm serious. When Natsu was at your apartment, under your roof, there were rules. Your rules, and-" But he was cut short by more fits of laughter from the blonde.

"Gray, you have to stop pulling my leg! Natsu doesn't follow _rules _anywhere, and that includesat my house! I'm not even sure he knows what the word means!" She was hysterical now. Gray was being a ridiculous, overbearing brother. And even though she was still chuckling, the thought kind of warmed her heart.

"Will you listen to me for a second?" His voice was a little harsher than he'd intended, but the effect that they had was what he was hoping for. Lucy calmed down and even though her brows were reaching for her hairline, she was quiet.

He decided to take another drag. "Look, as much as I'd like to deny it, guys our age have… Needs." They both winced at this. It was really like they were siblings with how awkward this subject was for the both of them. But Gray wanted Lucy to be safe, and even though he trusted his friend, he was still worried all the same. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, "Natsu acts dense, but he really isn't."

"Oh? And how do you know this?" Lucy sneered. She decided to look out over the balcony instead of her brother.

"Because, we've talked about it." After an incredulous look from Lucy, he continued, "Yes, we actually talk sometimes instead of fight. Anyway, look at things from his perspective. He's a dragon slayer. His senses are heightened far beyond ours. All of the dragon slayers for that fact. They know everything that happens in the guild whether they want to or not. They all react to it in differently. Laxus usually is too wrapped up in himself to care, and honestly I don't think his senses are as sharp. Gajeel distances himself from others to give them their privacy. And Natsu… Well, he enjoys being around people too much. But he also recognizes people's need for discretion. He can hear Cana talking about her sexcapades from a mile away. He can smell whenever someone is horny. So, instead of making people uncomfortable with his awareness, he pretends to be oblivious to it all. Yeah, he is a little slow when it comes to certain things, but he isn't stupid. And he's still a guy," Gray finished saying the last statement in a pointed manner. He noticed his cigarette had burned down to the filter after his monologue. He threw it in the ash tray and lit another one.

Lucy just stared at him, dumbfounded. This was news to her. It had never crossed her mind that Natsu understood the innuendos that were tossed around the guild. She found herself feeling guilty for treating him like a child sometimes. Then her thoughts became perversely curious.

"He can… _smell _whenever people are… horny?" She asked timidly, again not able to make her chocolate eyes meet Gray's.

Gray arched an eyebrow and puffed out more smoke from his lungs. "Yeah. I'm guessing it kinda sucks."

"Huh," Was all Lucy said.

But Gray wasn't finished. "So now that you know that he isn't completely stupid, I have to voice my concern about you staying with him."

"Oh Gray, come on. He might be aware of more things than I realized, but that doesn't make him any more inclined to be any sort of romantic."

"Well, yeah, that may be true. But he's still a guy and you're still a girl. A pretty one at that, and I know that Natsu isn't as dumb as not to notice that fact," Gray stated like he was stating that the sky was blue; it was just a fact.

Lucy blushed at the indirect compliment, but she still had her doubts, "Gray," she sighed, "Natsu isn't going to try anything. He respects me too much. Even if he was… well. You know… He wouldn't jeopardize our relationship like that. Besides, Natsu isn't the type of person who would go around just looking for sex. He'd have to actually _like _them, and I don't know if he's mature enough for that yet."

"Lucy, in all seriousness, can I ask you something?"

The look that Gray was giving her made her squirm a little in the white chair that she was sitting in. It was almost as if his deep blue eyes were staring into her soul. She weakly nodded her head and he continued.

"Do you have feelings for Natsu?"

Lucy blanched. She couldn't believe that Gray was being so blunt! "I… No! Of course not! He's my best friend and my partner, it'd feel… wrong to think of him like that," She answered, her voice jumping a few octaves in the process. She took another sip of her tea which was now becoming a bit cold. She sighed and fisted her hands in her lap.

She looked at the tattoo on her hand and thought back to whenever she first joined the guild. She was so happy. She had finally found a family that she knew cared for her. She looked at the same mark on Gray's chest and thought about the one on Natsu's arm. It bound them together. And the three of them, plus Erza and Happy were a team. She didn't want to ruin that dynamic.

"Lucy, I know you. I see the way you look at him," Gray said softly. His eyes were gentle as they rested on hers and she blushed again.

"Well. Maybe I thought of him that way… Once. A long time ago. But really Gray, I've put those feeling behind me. We're a team, the five of us. And besides, you're one to talk!" She shot at him, trying to deflect the conversation away from her recent admission.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" He retorted, scrunching up his nose, not realizing that with that comment, his shirt had gone missing.

"Oh Mavis, Gray. When are you just going to buck up and admit that you like Juvia?" She sighed, albeit grateful the conversation was no longer on her.

"When you admit to Natsu that you like him."

Or… Maybe not.

"I thought this whole conversation was to persuade me away from that?" She asked, trying to remain collected, although the sweat that started forming on her palms said otherwise.

"Look Sis. If you and Natsu were to get in a relationship, a real one, then I wouldn't mind the other stuff that came with it," At which this point Lucy's face was so red he thought she might explode on the spot but continued with, "But I don't want him taking advantage of you while you're there. Now, I don't think he would. Even though he's annoying as hell, he's at least a decent guy. I just had to make sure I gave you the talk. It's my responsibility as your big bro," He said satisfied with his speech, taking one final drag on his cigarette and putting it out on the ash tray.

Lucy's heart melted and she jumped to her friend, crushing him in a spine-splitting hug.

"Weirdo." She whispered in his ear. He just smiled at wrapped his hands around her to return the hug. They went back inside to spend the rest of their time together catching up on all the happenings within the guild and his misadventures while he was away, eventually, both falling asleep curled up on his bed like the brother and sister they were.

After a quick breakfast, Lucy left Gray's apartment and made her way back to her temporary home. With Plue walking beside her, she did her balancing act on the canal and thought about everything she and Gray had discussed the night before.

_Is he right? Do I still have feelings for Natsu?_

She hummed it over in her head. She knew that Natsu was very special to her. He was the closest person to her heart. But did that automatically mean that she liked him? No, she thought, but what about other things? Like how when they lay on her bed, watching movies or talking, she would get these random butterflies in her stomach, or when he would get up to go to another room, even though he was just feet away, she felt cold and wanted him to return. She thought about the foot massage he had given her a few nights prior and heated up at the memory. He was so gentle with her that whole night.

She decided that thinking about all of this while she had an extended stay at his place only spelt trouble for her. _If _there were feelings for the dragon slayer still prominent, now wasn't a good time to be thinking about them. That had potential to land her in an infinite number of unfortunate situations.

So, she decided that she would just be as appreciative of the hospitality he was giving her, and be on her best behavior as a guest as possible.

Her mind then went to the sleeping arrangements. Her face flushed and she got a curious look from Plue, but she just smiled and went back to her thoughts.

She didn't want a repeat of yesterday morning because she had woken up just so _damn close_ to Natsu's face, so she decided to buy an air mattress and a few sheets.

_Even though I'm not spending any money on rent this month, I'm still spending a lot on Natsu's_, the stellar mage thought amusedly to herself.

"Hey Plue, let's go buy an air mattress for Natsu's!" She chimed at her little spirit.

"Pun-puuun!" Was they reply that she got. They skipped to a store to get what they needed.

* * *

"Natsu? I'm back!" Lucy announced as she walked through the door. As she was turning the lock into place, she paused, her small hand still on the lock when she heard something come from Natsu's room.

It sounded like… Grunting.

Lucy stopped breathing all together and slowly put down the box that the air mattress was in and set the new sheets on top of it. She strained her ears, and… Yes, he was definitely grunting in his room.

Her face began to heat up exponentially and her heart began hammering in her chest. She stayed where she was, just by the front door and couldn't help but listen to the erotic noises coming from her best friend.

An uncomfortable feeling started snaking its way down in between her thighs and she had to press them together to relieve the discomfort. Her hands grabbed the hem of her- no, _Natsu's_- shirt and she couldn't help but think back to the conversation she had with Gray just the previous evening.

_Natsu's still a guy._

Had Lucy just walked in on Natsu… Pleasuring himself? She mentally kicked herself and attempted to forcibly calm her nerves.

She had yelled upon her arrival. Natsu would have noticed and stopped even if that's what he was doing… Right?

_But what if he's too out of it to have noticed? _She thought to herself quite perversely.

Lucy's anxiety was spiking through the roof and couldn't help her body's reaction to the noises she was hearing. Her skin on her arms and chest began to visibly flush and her breathing quickened.

_What is wrong with me?!_

The blonde shut her eyes in hopes that she could clear her head and gather courage to see what he was up to. Instead, what she got was images of the dragon slayer, sprawled out on his bed, gently but firmly stroking his-

_Oh Mavis, no!_

She opened her eyes, and before she could lose any more nerve, she decided to confront the man in the next room. She stomped her way over, and just before she could reach the door, she heard one audible sigh that chilled her and heated her core all at the same time.

She took a deep breath and rounded the corner, ready to smack the ever-living shit out of her partner when she was greeted with a half-naked Natsu.

Lifting weights.

He was making those noises because he was working out. He was wearing only his black shorts because he was _working out._

She dropped to the floor in a fit of laughter. She thought that Natsu was in here doing dirty things, when in reality he was just exercising! Her nerves caught up to her when she couldn't stop the bursts coming from her lips.

Natsu nearly dropped his dumbbell.

"Lucy? What the hell? You scared me!" Natsu berated his friend for sneaking up on him. When he was working out, his mind was in a completely different zone and couldn't believe he didn't hear her come into his room.

"I'm sorry Natsu! I just… Oh, never mind," Lucy laughed some more and finally moved to plop down on his bed.

Natsu gave her a look that conveyed just how confused he was.

"You're weird, Luce," He snorted, and began his routine again.

Lucy sighed her last bit of chuckling away and watched the muscles in his biceps flex as he lifted the dumbbell over and over again. She looked away for the second time when the heat began moving toward the apex of her thighs again and was about to say something when she was interrupted.

"Did the stripper start smoking again?" Natsu asked, trying to forget Lucy's weird behavior. Although, to him, Lucy's behavior was always weird. But that's how he liked her, he added as an afterthought to his own ponderings. He shifted the dumbbell to his other hand, almost done with his workout for the morning.

"Uh, yeah, can you smell it?" Lucy asked, taking the collar of her borrowed shirt to sniff it. When she confirmed that yes, she could smell smoke, she became worried. _Gray said that he can smell when people are aroused… Oh Mavis. _

"I'm going to take a shower!" Lucy screeched and flew out of the bed with amazing speed. She pulled out some of her clothes from her boxes in the living room, as well as her shampoo, conditioner, body wash and razor, then made a break for the bathroom.

Natsu finally set the dumbbell down and just stared at his doorway. Lucy was acting _extra _strange. Had something happened between Lucy and Gray? Was that why she acted so weird when he mentioned his smell of smoke on her? He narrowed his eyes and a growl threatened to erupt from his throat. He didn't like the thought of Gray and Lucy being any sort of intimate.

Then he realized his own thoughts and scolded himself. For one thing, Gray and Lucy were close, but Natsu couldn't ever imagine them being an item. He had heard the term 'friends with benefits' or as Cana liked to put it, 'fuck buddies', but the thought just seemed strange for Lucy and Gray. It was just as strange as imagining Evergreen with Bixlow or Erza and Elfman. Secondly, Natsu wondered, why did it matter? Lucy could make her own decisions and she was smart. Who she was intimate with was none of Natsu's business.

Still. It made him almost queasy just thinking about it, so he decided to go swing on his hammock and wait for Lucy to finish her shower.

He leaned back into the mesh, and bent one leg and let the other one drape off of the hammock, allowing his toes to brush the floor with every back and forth movement. He was in a sour mood and didn't like it so he decided to let it go and be in a good mood today.

After all, today he wanted to hang out with his best friend!

With that thought, he simply grinned a toothy grin, and decided that today was going to be spent with Lucy. He would let her decide what they were going to do and he would roll with it.

He nestled his head back and as he waited, he remembered their close encounter the morning before. She was so _close _and her scent attacked his nose in a tortuous yet incredible way. And she had been touching him. He and Lucy touched all the time, whether it be friendly hand holding, or when they would just be sitting close, or when she was hitting him, but none of those times surmounted the way she had touched his lips.

He was thankful that he was groggy, or else he might not have been able to control himself. He thought about this as he rotated his right shoulder in the socket. "Hmm, must've overdone it this morning," He thought to himself.

He had worked out extra hard this particular morning because he had a dream about a certain busty blonde that made him shoot up in bed and painfully aware of a rock-hard erection in between his legs.

It was around four in the morning, but he had immediately begun to work out to try to rid his mind of the lecherous images. Of course, it could have been easy to just work it off himself and then go back to bed, but he felt so _guilty _even at the thought of jerking off to images of Lucy.

So, he had worked out for six hours before the woman of his dreams- quite literally- scared the daylights out of him. He was concentrating so hard on his workout that he didn't hear her upon arrival. It seemed to have worked though, because he no longer had those pictures in his mind.

His ears perked up when he heard the water from the bathroom turn off and was extremely grateful that she had brought her clothes in with her so she didn't step out in a towel. Of course the pink tank top that barely covered her navel and black-pleated skirt didn't cover much.

"So, are you doing anything today?" Natsu grilled his partner, making sure to keep eye-contact.

"Uh, I don't think so. Why do you ask?" She replied, coming up to the hammock as well and pushing his sweaty legs over so she could sit perpendicular to him, both of her legs hanging off in the same direction. She fingered her wet hair and twirled a few golden locks around her index finger.

"Because I want to hang out today! You and me! And Happy, if he ever decides to show up again," Natsu added as an afterthought. He looked up at Lucy with his goofy grin and the spirit mage couldn't help but smile back.

"Sure! Sounds like fun! Do you have anything in mind?" She poked him, making him flinch a little.

"Hey, you know I don't like being tickled," Natsu whined and fear flooded into his eyes.

Lucy became mischievous at that and her smile turned devilish. She put out both of her hands in front of her and began wiggling her fingers, warning him of what was coming. Natsu promptly decided that that was the only warning he needed as he shot out of the hammock and began to dodge Lucy's fingers as they ran around the house, giggling and hissing and bumping into furniture.

"Luuuuuucce!" Natsu whined, as he was backed into a corner of the room. Lucy glared at him triumphantly and stalked up to him as if he was her prey.

Natsu's insides churned at the visual in front of him. She looked incredibly seductive making her way to him. Her hips swayed and her eyes gleamed. Her legs were perfect and her neck was so bare. He gulped and licked his lips.

She kept getting closer and closer and Natsu knew he was in trouble, her hands reached for him and he made the only decision he knew would keep them from ending up on the floor, with him on top of her, doing things that he wouldn't have dreamed of until this moment.

He grabbed her wrists quickly and held on to them tightly.

"Luce. Stop," He wouldn't have known it was his own voice if someone had replayed that back to him. It was too husky and deep.

The sparkle that was in her eyes dissipated into confusion and then worry. She started stammering.

"S-sorry, Natsu. I-I didn't… Sorry." She backed up, pulling her hands free from his and looked at the floor, biting the inside of her lip. She silently cursed herself. She had gotten too close. She became too bold. She was probably freaking him out.

He sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty hair and grinned sheepishly at her. "Sorry, Luce. I was just afraid I'd, uh, kick you or something. Or maybe set you on fire. Remember what happened last time?" He said, thankful that he was giving her a plausible explanation for his weird behavior, other than the fact that she looked too appealing a moment ago and he wanted to control himself.

Lucy found a weak smile working itself onto her face. She did remember. They were on her couch, and she was tickling him so much that he lost control and eventually set one of her favorite pillows on fire.

"Guess you're right. I just can't help myself. You're so…" She wanted to say _cute _but that would be strange, right? She settled with, "childlike when you're laughing like that," She gave him her best, dazzling white smile.

He just laughed and shook his head, "Whatever you say, Loopy."

After a smack to the shoulder, she puffed up, scrunching her nose and said between her teeth, "My _name _is _Lucy, _got it?"

He just ruffled her hair and ran past her, shouting that he was going to shower before they started their day. Lucy sighed, even though a smile was still plastered to her face, and decided to wait for Natsu on his bed. She wondered what they'd be doing today. She looked up at the ceiling and smiled, feeling totally content with her life at the moment.

* * *

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed it! There **will **be more NaLu in the upcoming chapters, I just had to make a few things clear first. I hope you liked Lucy and Gray's scene! Also, I'm hoping the characters are in character. I've set this a few years after the Grand Magic Games. So they're a bit older, and a bit more mature. Of course, that doesn't mean that they still aren't big doofuses. Anyways, like I said earlier, if there is anything you want to see, let me know! Please review! It gives my lazy bones motivation to keep writing! And for those of you who already reviewed, I _really _appreciate it! It makes my day!


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